Diamond Conference: Designated hitter

Unlike the Micro Conference where there's a clear leaders of the pack among DH, in the Diamond Conference there seem to be two front-runners with a second tier of contenders that are just behind them.

The Diamond Conference is comprised of Arkansas, Empire City, Hoboken, Hopatcong, Loudon, Newark, Sardine City, San Francisco, Tucson, and defending champion Vancouver.

Journeyman Frank Schwindel is one of those unlikeliest of potential all-stars. A year ago, you'd be hard pressed to know who he was but the Livingston native finally broke through and is making the most of his rookie year in DMBL. Arguably the best bat available in the draft, he has helped power one of the best offenses in the league, with Vancouver averaging 5.2 runs a game at the break, tied with Philly. He leads Diamond DHs and ranks in the top 10 in the DMBL in batting (.319, 4th), RBI (65, 4th), hits (108, 5th), doubles (27, 4th), extra base hits (44, T6th), and total bases (184, 8th). His 19-game hitting streak is tied with Tim Anderson of Erie for 2nd longest in the league this year (El Paso's Paul Goldschmidt has the longest at 22 games). An All-Star selection would make for timely birthday present when he turns 30 next week. But it's not quite cut and dried, there is competition.

The stiffest competition comes from Newark's full-time DH, Nick Castellanos. He's among the DMBL's top 10 in traditional power categories, HR (23, T8th) and RBI (59, 6th) and has played a league-high 88 games in the first half (albeit, he's tied with dozens of other players). Castellanos bests Schwindel in HRs and runs scored (53), leading Diamond DHs there. He also has a more than respectable slash line of .255/.328/.525 and is the only other DH on the ballot within striking distance of Schwindel when it comes to RC (54..8 v. 60.5) and total bases (169).

Nelson Cruz of Arkansas is a former World Series MVP and with 17 HR in the first half, 3rd among Diamond DHs, he enters the break ranked No. 14 in league history. He's just 4 long balls away from 400 HR. He's had a productive season with the Golden Falcons, hitting .251/.311/.502, and maybe voters get sentimental with the longtime slugger, who turns 42 on July 1. Although the Arkansas DH who appears on the ASG ballot is Brandon Crawford, who has split time at SS and ranks highly in RC/27 (7.6) and SLG (.587). It's not uncommon for teams to have a trio of players at DH over the course of the first half.

On the other side of the spectrum age-wise, there's Randy Arozarena, in his rookie season with Loudon. He's put up a solid 5.0 RC/27 and his 45.7 RC ranks 3rd among Diamond DHs, behind Schwindel and Castellanos. Not bad for a rook. Also seeing time at DH for the Lollygaggers has been J.D. Martinez, who appears on the ASG ballot at OF and Joey Votto, who's listed among 1B. Sardine City's George Springer also has spent time in the OF along with being the first choice at DH for the Straphangers. He's among the next tier of ASG DH candidates, not quite up to par with the leading pair but solidly jockeying for position.